Tali'ah Aquilini, centre, leaves the British Columbia Supreme court in downtown Vancouver, B.C., Monday, Sept., 9, 2013. Taliah and her former husband Francesco Aquilini have reached a deal in their divorce and will return to court later in the week to finalize the details.Jonathan Hayward
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Tali'ah Aquilini, centre, leaves the British Columbia Supreme court in downtown Vancouver, B.C., Monday, Sept., 9, 2013. Taliah and her former husband Francesco Aquilini have reached a deal in their divorce and will return to court later in the week to finalize the details.Jonathan Hayward
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Tali'ah Aquilini, centre, leaves the British Columbia Supreme court in downtown Vancouver, B.C., Monday, Sept., 9, 2013. Taliah and her former husband Francesco Aquilini have reached a deal in their divorce and will return to court later in the week to finalize the details.Jonathan Hayward
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Francesco Aquilini and his wife Tali’ah walk through the stands at Rogers Arena in 2004. Only hours before their divorce action was to go to court Francesco and Tali'ah Aquilini have settled for undisclosed terms.Jeff Vinnick
/ Getty Images

Francesco Aquilini, left and his father Luigi Aquilini, right spoke to The Vancouver Sun on the patio of their golf club, the Golden Eagle Golf Club in Pitt Meadows, B.C. on Wednesday September 4, 2013 .Ric Ernst
/ VANCOUVER SUN

Canucks owner and local businessman Francesco Aquilini outside his childhood home at the corner of Slocan and Oxford streets.Jason Payne, PNG
/ PNG

Francesco Aquilini, left and his father Luigi Aquilini, right outside one of the family’s homes in Pitt Meadows, B.C. on Sept. 4, 2013. The family’s complex business dealing are facing unprecedented scrutiny in the divorce proceeding between Francesco and wife Tali’ah.Ric Ernst
/ VANCOUVER SUN

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VANCOUVER - A sensational divorce trial that would have preoccupied the public for six weeks and spilled many family secrets was quietly settled late Sunday when Tali'ah Aquilini and Francesco Aquilini agreed to a settlement.

Terms of the deal have not been released.

With their divorce action slated to start Monday morning, the two sides reached a preliminary agreement over how the two will parent their four children and how much money she will get from Francesco Aquilini, whose family trust assets include the Vancouver Canucks hockey team.

The agreement, reached after a solid week of negotiations, won't be final until Wednesday, when Justice Nathan Smith is expected to issue a final divorce decree.

Paul Daltrop, Tali'ah Aquilini's lawyer, told Smith the two sides still had some details to work out but he expected to have a final settlement by Wednesday.

Tali'ah Aquilini told reporters she will make a statement after the agreement is finalized.

"I am pleased to have a reached a negotiated divorce settlement with Taliah. This settlement means we will be able to keep our personal lives private and, most importantly, avoid the negative impact of a trial on the children we both love," he wrote. "I would also like to thank the many people in our community who have reached out to offer me their support and encouragement."

Francesco Aquilini's lawyer, George Macintosh, said details of the deal are confidential and won't be disclosed.

The power couple were arguing over the parenting of their four children, and Tali'ah Aquilini was also seeking a significant share of her husband's net worth, which is tied up in a number of family trusts.

Those trusts, set up by Francesco Aquilini's father Luigi, govern a vast conglomerate of companies worth an estimated $5 billion, including the Canucks, North America's largest blueberry and cranberry farms, and development and real estate holdings.

Karen Shirley-Paterson, one of Francesco Aquilini's lawyers, said the settlement deals both with compensation for Tali'ah Aquilini and the parenting of the couple's children.

The case had drawn significant public and media attention since the Aquinilis filed for divorce nearly two years ago. Throughout, Francesco Aquilini had raised concerns that the publicity would be harmful to his children and his family's business interests.

Georgialee Lang, a Vancouver divorce lawyer and arbitrator, said she wasn't surprised at the last-minute settlement.

"It had to settle. They just couldn't run this. How could they?" she said. "I think it is great that they settled. It would have been just awful to play this out."

Lang said divorces involving wealthy people often come down to how large a cheque is written.

"I am not at all surprised the money issue was settled because you just write a cheque, and they've got the money to write a cheque," she said.

Although the terms of the settlement aren't public, Lang said it is likely both sides have agreed to hire a "parenting coordinator" — akin to a lawyer or arbitrator — to help resolve disputes.

"A parenting coordinator is someone who helps the parties work things out as they continue to raise their kids," Lang said. That will be especially important given the high profile the family occupies in Vancouver society.

"Being children of this very high-profile family is very challenging in any event."

The Aquilinis now face an important time in defining their own lives while trying to help their children adjust to the fact that while their parents aren't married anymore they still have a mom and a dad, she said.

"It is both of them trying to treat each other with respect, not talk about the case, and try to make life as normal as possible for these kids," Lang said.

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